The Horrors of Psychotic Impulse

"The accused came up from the basement and blood was observed on the accused's body and clothing."

"[The children went to the basement and] observed their father striking their mother with an axe repeatedly."

"The cause of death was multiple sharp-force trauma as a result of the accused repeatedly striking the victim in the neck with an axe."

Assistant Crown attorney Kristina Mildred 

 

"The definition of femicide is when a woman is killed by a man for no other reason than the fact that she's a woman."

"A relationship, such as husband and wife, for example, is that type of situation, and should not be diminished." 

Jennifer Dunn, head, London Abused Women's Centre 

A condolence note sticks out of a bunch of flowers laid in front of a house where a woman was killed on Friday night in London, Ont. (Amanda Margison/CBC)

There are no names to be put to those involved in this tragedy. That of two teen-age siblings, a boy and a girl, witnessing their father battering their mother with an axe with the intention of killing her. Their identities remain protected for the simple reason that the children involved not have their identities revealed. Their trauma and suffering and how they will be affected for the rest of their lives takes no psychological professionalism to imagine. 

 

They can, at the very least, be spared the notoriety that accompanies such gruesome and heart-rending acts of tragic dimensions, losing both mother and father under circumstances beyond imaginable. 

Superior Court Justice Joseph Perfetto oversaw court proceedings in London, Ontario when the 55-year-old man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The Assistant Crown Attorney summed up the evidence related to the case; its immediate discovery and observations by the authorities involved. Although the family had lived at the address where the murder took place for some thirteen years, they were not known by their neighbours but for a passing recognition. 

The children, horrified witnesses to their father's deadly attack on their mother, had left the house by the time authorities arrived. The boy had called 911 to report the ongoing attack; his mother's screams heard in the call's background. The police arrival was within mere minutes of the call. The father was taken into direct custody at the scene, his blood-covered appearance speaking vividly to what had occurred.

 

It was reveled at the hearing that the man was convinced his wife had had intimate relations with another man. Before he committed the lethal act of murdering his wife, suspicion had been building in his mind for months. He felt doubtful that he had fathered his own son, attributing the boy's paternity to another man. He had earlier examined all his wife's electronic devices containing her personal data with the intention of discovering clues that would cement his suspicions of her.

 

This all culminated on the evening of March 12, 2022. At 6:10 the man and wife were in the house basement. The son, on the main floor, heard his mother call her husband's name followed by "thumping". The daughter heard her mother calling out, and when the children descended to the basement, they saw the nightmare of intimate murder unfolding. The children left the house following the call to 911.

 

When the police arrived at 6:28 p.m. and arrested the man, he conveyed the message that he wanted to speak to a lawyer, and translation would be a requirement. When two of the officers went into the basement they found the woman lifeless on the floor, severe injuries to her neck, and the blood-covered hatched near her body. 

Although the two officers made an effort at providing life-saving measures in the hope of reviving the woman, the injuries to parts of her upper body, head and neck proved to have been lethal. She was pronounced dead at the house. 

Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence. But in Canada a 'life-sentence' is set at a maximum 25 years, with eligibility for parole decreasing time served, and sometimes by quite a margin. If there is ever a hint in even such cases of savage murder that the perpetrator suffered from a mental illness, they could be found not guilty of intent to kill, and/or of a state of mind unable to recognize the severity of their actions. 

The man's eligibility for parole relating to the length of his incarceration has yet to be determined. Parole eligibility can range between ten to 25 years. His wife will be  dead forever. His children's future with that memory seared like a phantom injury into their minds guaranteed to impact in both predictable and unpredictable ways. Yet Canadian law and Canadian courts are more attuned to the needs of the guilty than to their victims and how they have been impacted by the most serious of human rights crimes.

A man and woman bought this home in 2009. On Friday, the man was charged with second-degree murder in the death of the woman. (Amanda Margison/CBC)